Border agents arrest alleged smuggler with HIV, TB

07:50 PM MST on Monday, August 27, 2007

By Alicia Barrón, Fox 11 News

An alleged drug smuggler who struck a Border Patrol vehicle and injured an agent has been taken into custody after a brief struggle.

A news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicates agents noticed the suspect, identified only as an illegal immigrant, pull to the side of Highway 85 near Gila Bend on the afternoon of August 26.

The driver sped off into the opposite direction heading southbound when agents approached his truck. Agents say they briefly pursued him but had to terminate it because of the vehicle’s excessive speed.

Border Patrol agents from the Ajo station later spotted the suspect parked in a wash near Ajo. The news release indicates he sped off again when an agent and his K-9 unit approached the vehicle. The agent reported seeing bundles of what appeared to be marijuana in the bed of the truck.

The news release indicates that as another border agent attempted to find the driver on foot, the suspect’s vehicle emerged from a blind spot in the road and rammed the agent’s Border Patrol vehicle and injured the agent’s leg before speeding off.

The suspect eventually abandoned the truck and fled the scene on foot. He climbed a fence into private property, where border agents were able to arrest him.

According to the media release, the suspect told Border Patrol agents he has HIV and tuberculosis after suffering abrasions during their struggle to arrest him. He was taken to a Phoenix hospital for treatment and will be transported to the Ajo Station for processing and prosecution.

About $700,000 pounds of marijuana were found in the truck, which had been reported stolen in May.

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